Ramblings From This Chick: Guest Post with Author Aubrie Dionne and Giveaway

Monday, March 11, 2013

Guest Post with Author Aubrie Dionne and Giveaway

Today I would like to welcome back to RFTC author, Aurbie Dionne. Aubrie is celebrating the recent release of her book, Playing The Maestro and has stopped by to chat. Please give Aubrie a warm welcome.

Aubrie Dionne is an author and flutist in New England. Her writings have appeared in Mindflights, Niteblade, Silver Blade, Emerald Tales, Hazard Cat, Moon Drenched Fables, A Fly in Amber, and Aurora Wolf. Her books are published by Entangled Publishing, Lyrical Press, and Gypsy Shadow Publishing. She recently signed her YA sci fi novel with Inkspell Publishing titled: Colonization: Paradise Reclaimed, which will release in October 2012. When she's not writing, Aubrie teaches flute and plays in orchestras. She's a big Star Trek TNG fan, as well as Star Wars and Serenity.

Places to find Aubrie:

| Site | Twitter |

Conductors: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

In Playing The Maestro, Wolf Braun, the new guest conductor of the Easthampton Civic Symphony comes across as a big time jerk. He’s arrogant, haughty, way too talented for his own good, and makes sour faces when the violinists play out of tune.

Are conductors really like that?

Some of them are, and some of them aren’t. To tell you the truth, I’ve played for both. I’ve played for conductors that have stared me down, made my fingers shake, and shouted. And, I’ve played for conductors that smile when they cue me in, encourage me with compliments, and hang out with the orchestra after the concert. Sure, you always want to play for the nice ones, but if you really want to make orchestral playing your career, you have to play for them all.

I have this one memory of a time when I came in to sub for the principal flutist just for a rehearsal last minute. They were playing Night on the Bald Mountain by Modest Mussorgsky. There’s this big flute solo at the end. Well, I played the solo just fine, but I guess I took too much rubato, or slowed the tempo, because when I looked up, the conductor-who-shall-remain-nameless was beet red and pounding his downbeats, staring at me like I was an idiot. Note to self- look up more.

Only when I became a conductor myself did I realize the things that really annoy conductors and how much they really can see up there on the podium- which is A LOT. When I conduct, I can see every single conversation going on, even if I don’t address all of them. I can see the person texting, the one with hiding a book up on the stand, the people goofing off in the back, and the one who relies on their stand partner to come in. It’s actually pretty funny. But, it makes me wonder just how much my youth orchestra conductors saw of me!

Have you had a good or bad conductor? Feel free to share your stories!

Melody Mires has sworn off dating musicians, but when the sexy European conductor Wolf Braun takes over her struggling symphony, her hesitation almost flies out the window with the notes of her flute—until he opens his mouth. Wolf is arrogant, haughty, and seems to have a personal vendetta against Melody. Oh, and he’s her boss. If she wants to keep her job as principal flutist, she’ll have to impress Wolf while simultaneously keeping her undeniable attraction to herself.

Wolf came to America to get as far away from his past as possible, and to recover some of the swagger he had as one of the world’s best maestros. He never imagined being forced to reassess the entire orchestra’s talent—and potentially fire anyone who doesn’t make his cut. Dating the attractive flutist is out of the question, but as their feelings reach a fever pitch, can they risk both their careers for a chance at love?

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